New rules on asbestos in schools.New rules on asbestos in schools The Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and (EPA EPA eicosapentaenoic acid. EPA abbr. eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, n.pr See acid, eicosapentaenoic. EPA, n. ) announcedApril 22 its proposed rules directirng elementary and secondary school officials to have buildings inspected and asbestos hazards eliminated. Asbestos, which was used widely for insulation and fireproofing fireproofing, method of making normally combustible materials as nearly noncombustible as possible. Fireproofing generally applies to textiles and construction materials that are treated with a solution or coating of some substance that will tend to retard their until the 1970s, has been shown to cause chronic lung disease and cancer. EPA developed the rules in accordance with the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act passed last October. This fall, EPA will issue the final version of these proposed rules, which must be implemented by school districts by July 1989. EPA's proposed rules are more stringent than its pastguidelines, which only required school districts to inspect buildings and notify parents and school employees of their findings. And unlike previous regulations, which covered only asbestos in its "friable friable /fri·a·ble/ (fri´ah-b'l) easily pulverized or crumbled. fri·a·ble adj. 1. Readily crumbled; brittle. 2. Relating to a dry, brittle growth of bacteria. " (dry and easily pulverized pul·ver·ize v. pul·ver·ized, pul·ver·iz·ing, pul·ver·iz·es v.tr. 1. To pound, crush, or grind to a powder or dust. 2. To demolish. v.intr. ) form, the new rules give guidelines for the treatment of nonfriable asbestos as well. According to the new rules, school buildings can be occupiedonly if there is no more than 0.1 asbestos fiber per cubic centimeter in the air. The agency, which had estimated in 1984 that 45,000 schools contain asbestos, expects the cost of implementing the rules to be $3.2 billion over 30 years; most of the funds will have to be raised by local sources. |
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